Its that time of the year, dark nights, dark mornings and dreadful weather. You can’t underestimate how this can impact on your mental wellbeing and over these winter months I am more grateful than ever for my open water lifestyle and the Solent Sea Swimmers Community (join us here)
Being outside in natural light can be
helpful if you experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of
depression that affects people during particular seasons or times of year and it
is thought that getting into nature has helped people with many other types of
mental health problems. However, we all experience times that we may struggle
with our mood and well being even if not diagnosed with an illness. The impact
of circumstances in addition to the time of the year may lead you to be more
vulnerable, isolated and lonely, this invariably will impact on self esteem and
mood.
So this is a curtain call for you,
yes you! We won’t make a song and dance about it or ask awkward questions about
your personal circumstances but we want to reach out to you to say…. if you
can’t swim join us (learn to swim) if you are fearful of water join us (join aquaphobia) also, if you are not into
open water swimming at all or into the cold winter swims; please don’t feel
that our community is closed to you over the winter months, come along to our
weekly community swim/dip (press here) or volunteer to support one of our small
local events. We would be happy for you
to join us as shore support even just looking out for us while we are in the
water would be great (sometimes it's not for long!!) or take time to litter
pick while we swim and join us for a drink and chat after.
So to give you a little confidence to
make a positive change today here’s a little trick that is often used by top
athletes….power posing, It’s great at boosting confidence and self esteem. Amy Cuddy, who came up with the concept,
describes it as a “body-mind nudge” where you trick your body into feeling a
certain way, bypassing the barriers we put up in our minds.
So if you are feeling a bit insecure
lacking in confidence or just generally a bit wobbly give it a try. If you do
it in front of the mirror I guarantee you will at least smile!
Good poses to try for two minutes
every day or before you do something that scares you are the ‘Wonder Woman’
pose with your feet wide, chest out and hands on hips or ‘The Performer’ where
you stand wide and stretch your arms overhead in a V shape.
Or make up your own pose! I have visions of lots of swimmers heading
into the Solent in Superman pose!
Just to end if you are feeling a bit
wobbly remember there is help out there for you, if needed please contact your
GP who can help you and point you to relevant services if required
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